WILD LIFE ACROSS THE WORLD 



to fear, for to his terror and surprise he saw a lion 

 on the other side of the road. The brute was actually 

 pacing him as he rode leisurely along ! He immediately 

 put on speed. So did his dreaded companion, but 

 luckily for the cyclist a lion is a bad chaser, and can 

 only travel really fast for a short distance. The 

 animal soon gave up the pursuit, and in a few moments 

 had dived into the bush to wait for a more favourable 

 opportunity. 



After this no more volunteers were forthcoming 

 to carry the weather reports, so for the remainder of 

 the time that we were stationed there men had to be 

 told off for the trip. 



Towards nightfall, which always comes about six 

 o'clock in Central Africa, two brother officers arrived 

 and billeted themselves on me for the night. One of 

 them informed me that he was ordered to take over 

 my command. 



A few minutes later another officer rode up in a 

 motor lorry, and as it was then quite dark he decided 

 to camp near me. 



" Come over to this side," I said, for the road lay 

 between us, " there are lions about." 



" Oh, I am not afraid of lions," he replied. " I 

 want something to eat, and rather badly too. They 

 are in the same boat, I expect." 



We then sat down to our dinner, which in those 

 strenuous days consisted of bread, meat and tea. While 



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